Anthony Davis already has six All-Star appearances, an NCAA championship and an Olympic gold medal to his name, but the newly minted Los Angeles Lakers forward admits that there’s still something missing.
“I don’t think I have a failure that I’ve had yet,” Davis told ESPN as a guest on That’s What She Said with Sarah Spain. “Obviously, at the end of my career, if I don’t win a championship that would be, I would feel that’s one of my biggest failures. But right now, I still have a lot to do in this world on and off the court.
“So I don’t feel like I’ve failed in anything. I think I just continue to do it over until I succeed at it.”
That’s What She Said
Sarah Spain talks to Lakers forward Anthony Davis about growing up in Chicago, the most scared he has ever been, whether he has been in a fistfight and something his future spouse needs to be OK with. Listen now!
The former No. 1 pick hasn’t come close to an NBA championship yet. His team made the playoffs twice in his seven seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, maxing out with a second-round loss to the Golden State Warriors in five games in 2018.
However, Davis’ relocation to L.A. to pair up with LeBron James via a trade last month could help fill the hole in his résumé. The Lakers have the second-best odds to finish the 2019-20 season as the NBA champions, at 4-1, according to Caesars Sportsbook, trailing only the LA Clippers (7-2).
The acknowledgement by the 26-year-old Davis jibes with the urgency felt by Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka. Following six consecutive seasons of failing to make the playoffs — the longest drought in franchise history — Pelinka restated the team’s title expectations at Davis’ introductory news conference.
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“For us, anything short of a championship is not success,” Pelinka said. “So we have to learn from last season because we didn’t win a championship. And a lot of that went into the construction of the roster this year.”
Lakers fans better hope that the theater-style lighting the team uses for its home games at Staples Center — the spotlight is concentrated on the court, leaving fans in the seats dimmed as if attending a Broadway show — doesn’t affect Davis’ performance.
Davis told Spain that he is scared of the dark.
“TV on, bathroom light on, some light has to be on [when he goes to bed],” Davis said. “I wish I wasn’t scared of the dark. … I watched too many crazy movies when I was a kid, and it messed me up for life.”
Courtesy: ESPN.com
